NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 19 – The High Court has ruled against the unilateral deactivation of mobile phone numbers, affirming that they constitute personal digital identifiers, directly linking an individual to sensitive personal data. The court further directed that the Attorney General and relevant agencies must, by September 19, put in place a regulatory framework governing the reassignment of deactivated numbers, ensuring that prisoners’ contacts are preserved pending their release.In a judgment rendered virtually, Justice Lawrence Mugambi on Thursday held that telecommunication operators cannot deactivate or reassign numbers without the informed and verifiable consent of the original subscriber, anchoring the verdict on constitutional privacy protections under Article 31(c) and (d).The decision stems from Constitutional Petition No. E290 of 2024, filed by two petitioners, including a long-term prisoner, against the Attorney General and the Kenya Prisons Service. The petitioners challenged the automatic deactivation and reassignment of mobile numbers after 90 days of inactivity, arguing that such practices exposed private data—including bank notifications, family communications, and other sensitive digital identifiers—to third parties.Justice Mugambi observed that Legal Notice 90 of 2025, which allows deactivation after periods of non-use, is “unreasonable and arbitrary” because it fails to consider the subscriber’s legitimate circumstances. He noted that exceptions must be recognized for those “unable to use their numbers for legitimate reasons, such as prisoners serving sentences, students in restricted environments, or individuals abroad in non-roaming zones.”Data breach The court highlighted the risks of unfettered number recycling, including breaches of personal data. “When mobile digital identity is lost through reallocation or recycling without interrogating the reasons behind the long period of non-use or inactivity, it creates an avenue for unauthorized disclosure of delicate information such as the person’s family or financial affairs to third parties,” the judgment states.Justice Mugambi underscored the constitutional protection of prisoners’ rights, referencing Article 51.The provision guarantees prisoners “all the rights and fundamental freedoms in the Bill of Rights, except to the extent that any particular right or fundamental freedom is clearly incompatible with the fact that the person is detained, held in custody or imprisoned.”He noted that deactivation of registered numbers without the subscriber’s opportunity to retain or explain non-use violates constitutional safeguards.“Imprisonment should not translate to extinction of a prisoner’s digital identity,” the judge observed. “Automatic loss of the digital identity risks infringing on their right to privacy as their personal information linked and shared through digital identity may spill over to third parties without their consent or approval.”The High Court issued a mandatory directive requiring the Attorney General, in consultation with the Kenya Prisons Service, the Communication Authority of Kenya, and the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner, to take measures that protect digital identities against unfettered deactivation and arbitrary reassignment. Justice Mugambi mandated the creation of a regulatory scheme to preserve prisoners’ mobile numbers throughout the period of their incarceration, ensuring they can retain or reclaim their registered numbers upon release. He further directed that technical safeguards must prevent unauthorized exposure of personal data linked to recycled numbers.